Fraud is not just a Minnesota problem or a California problem; it’s proving itself to be a problem across the country.

The latest saw two Korean men in Queens, New York, allegedly defraud Medicaid for $120 million through a senior care facility in Flushing.

According to the New York Post, the two men involved, Daniel Lee and Inwoo Kim, ran Happy Life Adult Day Care, where they allegedly encouraged seniors to enroll in their social adult day care program by bribing them.

Seniors were handed a $500 kickback to enroll. If they actually used the services at one of two locations, that total was reduced to $300.

Seniors would also allegedly use a pharmacy owned by Kim to fill prescriptions they did not need. According to authorities, doctors, healthcare workers, and acupuncturists were also in on the scheme, allowing the elderly to get prescriptions for Diclofenac Epolamine pain relief patches.

When filling a prescription, Kim would make $525 for each 60-pack prescription and give $100 to the senior.

Per the New York Post, Lee did not allow seniors to use other pharmacies and made threats to cut off their kickbacks if they did.

The men weren’t just embarking on a misguided quest to help the elderly; they were allegedly helping themselves as well.

Records say Kim has a home in Long Island that last sold for $1.2 million while Lee lived in a small apartment in Flushing, choosing to gamble frequently — the complaint against the men alleges Lee withdrew $124,000 at a casino in Yonkers.

The Department of Justice complaint can be found here. The men each face 10 years in prison.

Flushing has a large Asian community, making up 64 percent of the population, according to BestNeighborhood. Kim and Lee allegedly had Chinese seniors involved but made sure to take care of their fellow Koreans first.

“Please give $10,000 to the Korean members first,” a text message between Kim and an unnamed co-conspirator said.

Certainty, many Americans every year live off the system fraudulently, but that does not mean the issue of fraud among immigrant communities should go unaddressed for its broader significance.

We cannot import people groups who culturally believe it is acceptable to take from the taxpayer under whatever schemes they concoct.

The national debt reached $38.4 trillion in December, according to the Joint Economic Committee. We do ourselves no favors in handing out money to foreigners only for state officials to turn a blind eye in fear of being called racist.

Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” sonnet on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reads, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Instead, we have opted to take in fraudsters, thieves, and gangsters.

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